Horrific Visions is back with a vengeance.

After a brief run between 2014 and 2018, the band reformed in 2020 and began releasing a few EPs. In 2026, Conrad Heinemeyer (vocals, Defiled Crypt), Chris Rossmeier (guitar, ex-Defiled Crypt…), Cody Hancock (bass, Bludgeoned, Defiled Crypt…), Rene Martinez (drums, Stabbing, ex-Whore of Bethlehem…) and Mason Vickers (guitar, Nailwalker) signed with Comatose Music for the release of their debut album, Remnants of Atrophy.

We kick things off with a harrowing sample from Malnutrition, the opening track that perfectly captures Jon Zig’s artwork (Abominable Putridity, Deeds Of Flesh, Defeated Sanity, Corpsefucking Art, Devourment…) before getting hit head-on by the first wave of riffs. Unsurprisingly, the band plays a brutal, uncompromising style that’s Old School enough to beat us down with bestial roars, and the sound calms down a bit with the arrival of Horrific Visions, a fairly short instrumental track, but the avalanche of violence resumes as soon as Deranged Perversion kicks in. The screams are back as well, setting the pace of the rhythm section before transitioning into Crippled Under The Weight Of A Hollow World, which offers a highly polished sound and some more complex influences, but also slower, simpler passages to ensure a perfect contrast. The sample from Synaptic Decay lets us catch our breath while staying in the horror realm, especially toward the end, then Primal Regression comes back with unbridled violence, along with that frenzied mosh pit right in the middle of the track. Same recipe on Disgusted Warped Mentality, the next track, which in turn packs a punch by adding shrill harmonics between waves of raw violence, as well as on Enlightenment Through Excruciating Torture, which further accelerates the pace and stands out as one of the album’s most virulent tracks. Unfortunately, it’s quite short, and is followed by title track Remnants Of Atrophy, which serves as the album’s closer but delivers one final dose of brutality, followed by a final sample to stay true to the genre’s tradition.

With Remnants Of Atrophy, Horrific Visions delivers raw, no-frills compositions: twenty-five minutes of violent intensity punctuated by a few samples. Simple, clean, but above all, incredibly heavy!

80/100

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